Preview — Brooklyn
by Colm Tóibín

Brooklyn

Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the DodgeEilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future....more

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Reader Q&A

This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Based on the last paragraph of the novel, do you think Eilis happily returned to Tony and she realized she made the right decision? I am trying to make peace with the ending."She has gone back to Brooklyn...these words would come to mean less and less to the man who heard them and would come to mean more and more to herself." (hide spoiler)]

AutumnI realize I may be in the minority here, but I don't think Eilis ever really loved Jim. I think she liked him as a person, certainly, but what I think…moreI realize I may be in the minority here, but I don't think Eilis ever really loved Jim. I think she liked him as a person, certainly, but what I think she really loved was what he represented: a steady, familiar life in the town she grew up in. This struck me the most when she was attending her friend's wedding and thought that she "didn't love Tony now." What she was experiencing was a fun, cheerful event with all the people she'd known her whole life, and this is what she could have for herself if she stayed with Jim. But later on, when Miss Kelly pettily informs Eilis that she knows her secret, she's reminded of what else life with Jim will mean--living in a town where everyone knows who you are and what you've done, without any chances to start over. This is when a life with Tony in Brooklyn becomes more appealing, because now she's realized that she had adapted to life in a big city in a new country, and enjoyed her independence too much to forfeit it now. I certainly hope that she really does love Tony, but even if she doesn't then I imagine that she would grow to love him more with time.(less)

PatrickYes, a twelve-year-old could read this. When he or she gets to the benign sexual scenes, talk to him or her about it. It's hardly something that…moreYes, a twelve-year-old could read this. When he or she gets to the benign sexual scenes, talk to him or her about it. It's hardly something that should be hidden or banned.(less)

Community Reviews

It's hard to read anything about books without hearing gushing praise for Brooklyn, so I settled in for a brilliant work about immigration and America and New York and alienation and crushing hard work and etc. Brooklyn, though, is no The Jungle or Call It Sleep. Set partially in 1950-ish Ireland and partly in Brooklyn, the novel follows spineless and benign Eilis through her voyage to the United States (arranged by her sister and a kind priest), where she receives a job, is enrolled some classeIt's hard to read anything about books without hearing gushing praise for Brooklyn, so I settled in for a brilliant work about immigration and America and New York and alienation and crushing hard work and etc. Brooklyn, though, is no The Jungle or Call It Sleep. Set partially in 1950-ish Ireland and partly in Brooklyn, the novel follows spineless and benign Eilis through her voyage to the United States (arranged by her sister and a kind priest), where she receives a job, is enrolled some classes, is encouraged to do volunteer work, is set up with lodging at a boarding house, gets picked up and courted by a faultless Italian American, etc. All passive voice intentional. She doesn't really make any decisions on her own until the end of the novel, and even that was basically for lack of realistic alternative options.

Other than a tragic death in the family and a little homesickness, nothing bad ever happens to Eilis and there isn't any real conflict. At some point she has to choose between her life in New York and a roughly equivalent life back in Ireland, but she studiously avoids finding out anything that could force her to form an opinion. We are teased with tantalizing potential plot threads: a brilliant professor who might be a Holocaust survivor and is impressed by her curiosity about her bookkeeping law classes, her unpleasant landlord and her unpleasant old boss communicating and exposing her brief "double life," an Italian boyfriend who looks suspiciously unlike the rest of his family. But no worries, these aren't pursued into anything that would risk causing conflict.

In defense of the novel, I found myself very compelled to finish it, the prose is serviceable if not brilliant, and it is in general a thoroughly pleasant read. My ORD->DEN flight went by delightfully quickly because of it. And now I'll go back to Henry Roth....more

Assuming we have a reliable narrator, we can date this story by the newly-released movie she views - Singing in the Rain - so it’s 1952.

A young Irish woman emigrates to Brooklyn. Back in Ireland, she has three brothers all working in England and an older sister who will now stay home to take care of their aging mother. The older sister, who happens to be more attractive, athletic and ambitious, sacrifices her possibility of a normal married life for her younger sister. Our heroine chooses the USAssuming we have a reliable narrator, we can date this story by the newly-released movie she views - Singing in the Rain - so it’s 1952.

A young Irish woman emigrates to Brooklyn. Back in Ireland, she has three brothers all working in England and an older sister who will now stay home to take care of their aging mother. The older sister, who happens to be more attractive, athletic and ambitious, sacrifices her possibility of a normal married life for her younger sister. Our heroine chooses the US over England because those who went to England missed Enniscorthy (the Irish home town) whereas those who went to the US did not.

The younger sister tells us her story including incredible seasickness and homesickness episodes. She gets a job as a retail clerk in a department store and begins experiencing the contrast of life in a semi-rural Irish town to that in a thriving American metropolis. So much happens, and she experiences so much newness, that she feels she needs an extra day to go through the events and happenings, scene by scene, storing them away and getting it out of her system as she dreams each night.

She lives in a boarding house with several other Irish women, but she’s a loner and makes no real friends among the other lodgers or landlady. She dislikes the prejudice with which the other boarders treat Jews, “colored women,” other ethnics, such as Italians, and lower class folks such as one boarder who scrubs floors.

She has an episode with a female boss who is a lesbian, and although she does not accept her advances, she accepts her orientation and continues to treat her respectfully. All this is fine, although at times I started thinking that all her political correctness was a bit overdone and seemed like set-pieces. For example, when she helps out at church-sponsored Christmas banquet for homeless men, I thought the story started taking on the tone of a YA novel. (And maybe it is – it certainly could be.)

There are little realistic touches such as (by letter) her and her mother’s amazement that Americans leave the heat on all night!

Our heroine falls in love with an Italian man. But tragedy strikes and she has to return home. She feels the pull of Ireland once again and she gets into a position where no matter what she does, she will hurt someone.

A line I liked: “She struck Eilis as looking like a horse-dealer’s wife in Enniscorthy on a fair day.”

A good story, worth 4 stars rounded up, although I don’t think it’s one of Toibin’s best.

This is a charming, simple story about a sweet, straightforward young woman – until the final section, when it sears the reader’s heart and soars into another realm.

The first part is a delightful picture of small-town Ireland in the 1950s. The middle two parts chart Eilis’ arrival and settling in to life and study in Brooklyn. Not much happens. It’s well done, but I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then she is unexpectedly summoned home. The situation and dilemmas arising could be crass

This is a charming, simple story about a sweet, straightforward young woman – until the final section, when it sears the reader’s heart and soars into another realm.

The first part is a delightful picture of small-town Ireland in the 1950s. The middle two parts chart Eilis’ arrival and settling in to life and study in Brooklyn. Not much happens. It’s well done, but I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then she is unexpectedly summoned home. The situation and dilemmas arising could be crass, predictable and dull, or overly sentimental, or just implausible. They are none of those things.

The ending was brave and brilliant, and pushed the book from 3.5* to 5*. The most powerful aspect for me was (view spoiler)[big spoiler coming up:(view spoiler)[ that she went back to Brooklyn, presumably to Tony, but carefully puts the photo of her and Jim on the beach in the bottom of her suitcase (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)].

I hope Toibin is never tempted to write a sequel.

So Much Unsaid

There is a gradually intensifying theme of important things going unsaid: lips sealed, omissions from letters, replies unread.

It’s no great insight that the longer one waits to reveal something, the harder it becomes, and the more complex the consequences. Toibin’s skill is in making chronic inarticulacy agonisingly convincing: there’s always the nagging hope that if one puts it off, it may somehow not be necessary.

Eilis’ inexperience may look like naivety, but the more we understand of her inner thoughts, the more her intelligence, introspection, and perceptiveness about other people’s motives peek through. She’s not inarticulate in her head, only in real life, though she tries to suppress her own thoughts as well, “The best thing to do… was to put the whole thing out of her mind”.

The gaps in her letters home mean “they would never know her now” and maybe they never had, otherwise they would not have sent her to this strange land where she does not fit.

But it’s not just Eilis: all the main characters hide their true selves and desires ((view spoiler)[hence a brief scene with lesbian overtones (hide spoiler)]), and even prevent others from doing so: “It was hard to speak since her mother seemed to have prepared in advance every word that she said” and had a way of “speaking that seemed to welcome no reply”.

“Not telling her mother and friends made every day she had spent in America a sort of fantasy.” You can rewrite a fantasy, which makes reticence appealing, but it doesn’t change the truth – or the ramifications.

Appropriately, the plot hinges on someone who DOES speak up, but whether the consequences are good or ill is suitably ambiguous. Toibin has consistently demonstrated the problems of what goes unsaid, but he stops short of recommending honesty at all times, because there is no single answer. We each have to decide for ourselves when to hold back and when to open up. Either way is risky. Inertia, manifested as silence or omission, often seems easier, as Eilis knows so well – yet she does it again and again.

Pulled Two Ways: An Outsider in Two Realms

Eilis moves from her predictable and familiar town where she has spent (and expected to spend) her whole life, to a city where even the staples of bread, butter, tea and milk, are strange, and “everything [is] frenzied and fast”.

She may speak the language, but “She was nobody here… a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor. Nothing meant anything… She… tried to think… of something she was looking forward to, but there was nothing… It was as though she had been locked away.”

Just as she’s becoming at ease with Brooklyn, she finds herself an outsider again, when she gets to know an Italian family, and finally when she goes back to Ireland, changed.

This is the obvious theme, and it’s why I chose the photo of the Anthony Gormley sculpture. But because it’s more obvious, and is part of the reason for all the unsaid things, it somehow felt less important. Or maybe it was secondary because I identify with it too strongly: there are so many axes along which I have been, and still am, neither one thing nor another, even though I’ve never lived more than 150 miles from my birthplace.

However, Eilis learned to fit in in America, and having found that chameleon quality, I am hopeful for her.

Plot

(view spoiler)[Eilis is a young woman in a small town in 1950s Ireland, studying bookkeeping. Her older brothers live and work in England, and her older sister, Rose, works to pay for Eilis and their widowed mother. With little prospect of local employment, Eilis is despatched to Brooklyn, with the aid of Father Flood, a friend of Rose.

She lives in a boarding house, headed by Mrs Kehoe, has a job in a department store, and goes to night school to qualify as a bookkeeper, all arranged by Fr Flood, who also organises Friday church dances, from where she gains an Italian boyfriend, Tony. Rather than an explicit proposal, he talks of future plans that “suggested that marriage been already tacitly agreed”.

A sudden death sends her home for a short visit. (view spoiler)[She secretly marries Tony before leaving. (hide spoiler)]. Emotional and practical manipulation inevitably extend the trip. Time to fall in love, perhaps: heart and duty, separated by the Atlantic.

Overall, I thought the film was pretty good. It was understated and looked and felt "right" to me. The luminously ethereal Saoirse Ronan is perfect as Eilis, and the screenplay and cinematography included lingering shots of her pensive face, showing something of her inner doubts and struggles about what to say and what to leave out. Julie Walters is excellent as Mrs Kehoe, and dinner at her lodging house is suitably on the knife-edge between fun and awkwardness.

Inevitably, some things were missed out: no brothers (a sensible omission), almost nothing about Rose (Eilis is on the boat within minutes, and without much explanation), and no hint she has ambitions until Fr Flood enrolls her at Brooklyn College. But none of that impairs understanding or changes the nature of the story.

My one gripe is the one I feared: the ending was tidier. Not only did she definitely (view spoiler)[ return to Tony, but (view spoiler)[the photo of her and Jim on the beach was never taken, let alone packed in her case back to Brooklyn (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]. However, there was one really good addition near the end, (view spoiler)[on the boat, she gets talking to a young Irish girl heading to Brooklyn for the first time, and she takes on the role of advisor, as Georgina had done for her. That's when the cameras should have stopped rolling, imo (hide spoiler)].

Quotes

• “No one who went to America missed home. Instead they were happy there and proud. She wondered if that could be true.”

• “She did not allow herself to conclude that she did not want to go.”

• “She felt she was being singled out for something for which she was not in any way prepared.”

• “The letters told Eilis little; there was hardly anything personal in them and nothing that sounded like anyone’s own voice.”

• “She wanted to allow for the possibility that everyone’s motives were good.”

• “In Bartocci’s she had learned to be brave and decisive with the customers, but once she herself was a customer she knew that she was too hesitant and slow.”

• “Looking like a horse-dealer’s wife in Enniscorthy on a fair day.”

• “In Brooklyn it was not always as easy to guess someone’s character by their job.”

• “She would have to slow him down, but she had no idea how to do so in a way that did not involve being unpleasant.”

• Etiquette of ogling on the beach:“In Ireland no one looks… It would be bad manners.In Italy it would be bad manners not to look.”

• “The [bad] news and the visitors had caused excitement, distracted her pleasantly from the tedium of the day.”

A simple but universal coming-of-age story, beautifully and gracefully told

Usually I read the book before seeing the movie, but in this case I saw the movie first. I screened the lovely film back in August when I wrote a cover story on Brooklyn’s star, Saoirse Ronan, for my paper’s coverage of the Toronto Film Festival. I only now caught up with the novel. I’m so glad I did. It really made me appreciate Nick Hornby’s adaptation.

In 1950s small town Ireland, Eilis Lacey has few prospects in life;A simple but universal coming-of-age story, beautifully and gracefully told

Usually I read the book before seeing the movie, but in this case I saw the movie first. I screened the lovely film back in August when I wrote a cover story on Brooklyn’s star, Saoirse Ronan, for my paper’s coverage of the Toronto Film Festival. I only now caught up with the novel. I’m so glad I did. It really made me appreciate Nick Hornby’s adaptation.

In 1950s small town Ireland, Eilis Lacey has few prospects in life; there are no available jobs and even fewer available men. So when a priest offers to sponsor her to emigrate to the U.S., she accepts, even though she’s sad to leave her mother and older sister, Rose. Once in Brooklyn, NY, she adjusts to working in a department store and living in a rooming house, but she’s desperately homesick. That eases up when, with the help of that same priest, she takes night school bookkeeping courses; she also meets a charming Italian-American man, Tony. All is going well until she’s called back to Ireland.

Tóibín’s prose is clear and unadorned, befitting the book’s simple, forthright and industrious protagonist. One of my writing teachers told me that showing characters who are good at what they do is a sure way to build sympathy for them, and I loved reading about Eilis’s skill with numbers and facts.

There’s nothing flashy about her; she’s modest, sensible and hard-working, but she’s also got a fine sense of humour. She’s no pushover.

I like that Eilis is studying bookkeeping. She’s concerned about things adding up in both columns. When exciting things start happening in her life, she wants to be left alone to reflect on them. She’s a classic introvert. After she meets Tony, she probably intuitively adds things up in the relationship column (she wishes he were taller); when she’s offered a larger room at the boarding house, she tries to figure out the why and wherefore of the offer, and whose debit and credit columns will be affected.

What’s remarkable is how quietly and yet powerfully Tóibín presents Eilis’s narrative. I loved all the details about the department store – its billing system, the one-day-a-year pantyhose sale that’s spread by word of mouth. One theme that’s not explored in the film is how the store adjusts to the times; when its savvy owner realizes the neighbourhood is changing, it begins catering to African-American customers, and it’s fascinating to see how Eilis reacts. This is the new world, with opportunities for all. There’s also a tiny scene about one of Eilis’s instructors, whose family was killed in the Holocaust.

Eilis’s story made me laugh and cry: her loneliness, her hard work, her spirit of charity, her growing confidence. The book’s final section finds her back in Ireland, and the way she sees her old life – what used to be her entire universe – is profound and moving.

The book’s denouement happens a little quickly. The film’s concluding scenes are much more satisfying emotionally – we need to see certain things resolve. But the spirit of book and film are the same.

The story of journeying from one place to another to build a new life for oneself is universal. Toíbín finds a fresh, unpretentious way to tell it.

Brooklyn is exactly why I love a certain type of literary fiction: to get deep into character, to understand where people come from, not just geographically but psychologically and emotionally.

One final note: there are two references to a Nora Webster in the book. That’s the name of Tóibín’s eponymous 2014 novel. Am I stoked to read it? What, are you a feckin’ eedjit? (Pardon my faux Irish curse.) Of course I am....more

To call this book a slow starter would be to evoke a drastic understatement. After around a hundred or so pages, I was beginning to wonder if this book was actually going anywhere. There was a completer lack of plot, as the mundane life of an ordinary girl unfolded in all its blandness. However, as the novel progressed it built up momentum, ever so slowly until the point where it became a heart racing crescendo of uncertainty. The true shame of this book, anSome books are worth sticking with.

To call this book a slow starter would be to evoke a drastic understatement. After around a hundred or so pages, I was beginning to wonder if this book was actually going anywhere. There was a completer lack of plot, as the mundane life of an ordinary girl unfolded in all its blandness. However, as the novel progressed it built up momentum, ever so slowly until the point where it became a heart racing crescendo of uncertainty. The true shame of this book, and perhaps its reason for such a mixed reception here on goodreads, is how many readers such initial storytelling would put off and even lose altogether.

So what’s good about this book? Plot wise, it sounds like a tiresome cliché, so I’m not even going to attempt a summary.

Instead I’m going to consider what the novel actually captures. Decisions are always important, but every so often a decision so powerful will come along that either direction you take will completely alter your life hereafter. We’ve all experienced that moment, a moment where if you went down a certain path (as Robert Frost would say- “the road not taken”) our life would be different today. Some moments are just that strong; they don’t come along very often, but when they do they linger for what feels like an eternity.

And this is what the book builds up to in its eloquent simplicity. For Eilis her decision is vast and unpredictable. This becomes such a crucial part of the storytelling. We can’t predict such moments. No matter how bland and ordinary our lives may appear, you can’t predict what may happen in your life. Sometimes something, or someone, comes along that threatens to change the game completely. Your life becomes something else, and your reaction to it may come to define the rest of your days. Eilis becomes torn between two lives, one she has grown to love and one that is undoubtedly her comfort zone. Her coming actions will stay with her forever, as she ponders what could have been.

The novel also chronicles a huge part of modern cultural history. As a historical novelist, Toibin has captured many of the viewpoints of the 1950s along with various social transitions. The world is becoming more modern; thus, there is a shift in attitudes towards race, sex and marriage. The older generation characters are more conservative, and remain resistant to this asserting sense of newness. Some of the younger characters, but not all, are more open and accepting. We see a multitude of opinions and attitudes, ultimately, recognising which ones will become dominant.

So here is a book that has very little in the way of actual plot, but I urge other readers to look beyond that. The story is a mere vehicle, a means for the author to capture these intense moments of confliction and uncertainty. In this sense, it chronicles a large part of what it is to be human....more

Brooklyn starts out as a nice little slice of life in Ireland in the early 50’s. Then Eilis, the younger of two sisters living at home with their mother, has a whole new life arranged for her in New York. It took rather a stiff upper lip for a young woman to cross the stormy seas and settle in a foreign land where the only person she knew was the priest who arranged the whole thing. Sea sickness gave way to homesickness, but her strength of character prevailed. The story then settled into how shBrooklyn starts out as a nice little slice of life in Ireland in the early 50’s. Then Eilis, the younger of two sisters living at home with their mother, has a whole new life arranged for her in New York. It took rather a stiff upper lip for a young woman to cross the stormy seas and settle in a foreign land where the only person she knew was the priest who arranged the whole thing. Sea sickness gave way to homesickness, but her strength of character prevailed. The story then settled into how she built her new life, complete with a job at a clothing store, night classes to learn bookkeeping, relations with her catty fellow boarders, and ultimately with Tony, his brothers, and the Dodgers. It was a more innocent era (even in the big city). At that point I was wondering if it was possible to be nostalgic for a time and place you’ve never experienced. People were generally nicer; more thoughtful. Then again, I wondered whether an era like that when polite behavior and higher standards were de rigueur would be more likely to come down hard on subtle deviations. Would social acceptance be too narrowly defined? Seemed like something interesting to consider in light of the book’s focus on manners, integrity and the social fabric of the day.

I was happy enough with the manufactured, third-order conflicts. It helped that despite her passive nature, Eilis was likable and observant. (I’d be curious to know if women who read this think Tóibín did a credible job getting inside the head of his young protagonist.)

Then, towards the end, BAM! -- you get genuine, first-order conflict. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but will mention that certain dilemmas were laid out well: old life vs. new, family duty vs. commitments to others, the growing comfort of the here and now vs. the fading memories of pleasures past, and romantic prospects vs. … what (?). There’s a pay-off to reading through to the end. Which way will the wind blow? Will Eilis be blown with it? It was a story simply told and all the more forceful for it.

Update: I’m happy to report that the movie adaptation was a good one. It’s not a substitute for the book, of course, since there is plenty of interior life a film can’t hope to capture. But the screenplay was clever (Nick Hornby is apparently good at these things) and the acting was first-rate (I hope Saoirse Ronan scores an Oscar nomination). Four to four and a half stars plus one upturned thumb speak to a fine book/movie double....more

It was slow going throughout most of the story with a kind of monotone dialogue, and while I did find Eilis's initial trip from Ireland to America kind of fun and interesting, her life while in America was day-after-day of repetitive boredom for the reader. (at least for me)

As for Eilis herself, at first I thought she showed strength of character and heart, but by the end of the story, well.....I admit to hoping for her demise!

2.5 Stars I'm sorry to say BROOKLYN was a disappointing read for me.

It was slow going throughout most of the story with a kind of monotone dialogue, and while I did find Eilis's initial trip from Ireland to America kind of fun and interesting, her life while in America was day-after-day of repetitive boredom for the reader. (at least for me)

As for Eilis herself, at first I thought she showed strength of character and heart, but by the end of the story, well.....I admit to hoping for her demise! I liked Tony, but felt sorry for him in the end as well as for Jim and Rose. As for the rest of the characters......GEESH! The best part of the novel for me were the baseball discussions while the Brooklyn Dodgers played at Ebbets Field.

Will probably still see the movie and hope for the best.

Update: March 28, 2016 Thought the movie was much better than the book, but probably not one I would rent again.......too many books to read.

Brooklyn is a wonderful character portrait and captures as well the struggle of an Irish immigrant to the US in the post war world. Eilis Lacy is a twenty-something in a small Irish town, frustrated at the sclerotic nature of her environment. Her life lies ahead of her in a single, entirely predictable line and she feels suffocated. She wants to study, to learn accountancy, or at least bookkeeping, so she can rise a little above her lowly economic situation. Seizing an unexpected opportunity sheBrooklyn is a wonderful character portrait and captures as well the struggle of an Irish immigrant to the US in the post war world. Eilis Lacy is a twenty-something in a small Irish town, frustrated at the sclerotic nature of her environment. Her life lies ahead of her in a single, entirely predictable line and she feels suffocated. She wants to study, to learn accountancy, or at least bookkeeping, so she can rise a little above her lowly economic situation. Seizing an unexpected opportunity she sails for America and begins to make a life for herself in Brooklyn.

Colm Tóibín - from the LA Times

Toibin finds small-townishness, of the good-and-warm but also the negative-and-intrusive sorts in both worlds. His portrayal of boarding house life in New York is classic. It is matched by his ability to show the appeal of Eilis’ home town. Ultimately Eilis must decide where her future lies.

Saoirse Ronan as Eilis - she dazzles in the role

Eilis Lacey is a fully realized character you will be able to relate to, someone you will remember. Her concerns may have been set in a particular time and place (or places as the case may be) but the issues she faces are no less true for people of many eras from all over the world who take on the huge challenge of immigration. This is not an action-oriented page turner, no shoot-outs or car chases, literal or figurative. Instead it is a beautifully written, patiently paced tale that is well worth the reading.

=============================EXTRA STUFFLinks to the author’s personal, and FB pages

Well...it was a quick read...I expected far more and only in minute passage did I find it. Mr. Toibin's BROOKLYN felt rushed, a bit glossed over, too formulaic for me to honestly believe the character of Eilis Lacey (and the name bothered me as much as her lack of substance). There were small moments of brilliance: the terse passages of what was not said, which was the most telling, yet those glimmers were rare. I could not identify in the least with Eilis, she was so one-dimensional, barely theWell...it was a quick read...I expected far more and only in minute passage did I find it. Mr. Toibin's BROOKLYN felt rushed, a bit glossed over, too formulaic for me to honestly believe the character of Eilis Lacey (and the name bothered me as much as her lack of substance). There were small moments of brilliance: the terse passages of what was not said, which was the most telling, yet those glimmers were rare. I could not identify in the least with Eilis, she was so one-dimensional, barely there and characterized as mostly bored when she was present in this book. Her mother and glamorous older sister decided she must go to America, so she does! A priest manages a hard-to-get passage, work status and job but how? and why?? She ends up in a rooming house in Brooklyn with a job as a salesgirl in a department store...great! Life in the rooming house was pleasant but bland, her job was almost non-descript (except for the reader learning how salesgirls made change via pneumatic tubes--that was described in exquisite detail) despite her being launched from a tiny Irish village into the incredible diversity and cultural whirlwind of life in New York City! Eilis just waltzes in an smiles pleasantly at times when Mr. Toibin wants us to know what she's doing. Hardships? Well, there's loneliness--we're told of a day she spent with a crooked smile because she's lonely! so the omnipotent priest puts her in night school to fill her time and she manages to excell! Halfway into this I realized she's a Mary Sue! That's great for Mr. Toibin but rest assured there is very little emotion or connection on the reader's part for this girl. The author just points and shoots her to the next scenario which she scurries through successfully--there was no way I could identify with this character or care much for her trials (few) or triumphs (many). The secondary characters also needed more time, more development to come to life for me. They were barely two dimensional. Occasionally, again, that glimmer, but overall, it was just words telling me about these people, the life they were marching through. Most disappointing to me, really lacking in insight and in truism was the ending. I don't want to spoil this more than I already have, but there was no feeling of..."ahhhhh" when it was done. The ending, while putting on the face of happiness rang hollow. It makes me wonder if Mr. Toibin schemed to pull a great private joke over all of us who really want to gush about it and hug it to our heaving bosoms ala "Bridges of Madison County" (gag-gag).The most interesting thing about this book was looking over the accolades from those who reviewed it. I couldn't wait to relish every word when phrases like, "A Triumph!", "a moving, deeply satisfying read", and "exquisitely detailed fiction". I was surprised when I finished it and reviewed the praises, wondering if I had read the same novel? If I had enough time and had a tick more crazy in me (give me maybe 10 more years), I promise you I would send a hand-written note to each reviewer suggesting they either didn't read the book or jumped on the love-train while pretending to have read it. I seriously think I will write to a certain Ms. Zoe Heller (author of THE BELIEVERS) to ask her how on earth she can possibly make the unfounded claim that Mr. Toibin "writes about women more convincingly...than any other living, male novelist"? I beg to disagree....more

"Ordinary things, that she would never know, that would not matter to her now."

“Brooklyn” is a beautiful, simple book. It reminds me of the writing of Anton Chekov, just life happening. And in the hands of a skilled writer, that is enough to keep you reading. The novel moves quickly, although it covers a span of two years it is only 262 pages. Things happen, big things, without any fanfare, as they do for all of us, every day in real life.The novel’s protagonist, Ellis Lacey, is so fully rendere"Ordinary things, that she would never know, that would not matter to her now."

“Brooklyn” is a beautiful, simple book. It reminds me of the writing of Anton Chekov, just life happening. And in the hands of a skilled writer, that is enough to keep you reading. The novel moves quickly, although it covers a span of two years it is only 262 pages. Things happen, big things, without any fanfare, as they do for all of us, every day in real life.The novel’s protagonist, Ellis Lacey, is so fully rendered that you almost immediately sense that you know her (probably you just recognize a bit of yourself) within the first few pages of the text. The way Mr. Toibin puts us in her head moves the novel along. When Ellis goes on her first date with an Italian named Tony that she recently met at a dance I was stunned by the great writing. It was astounding, and romantic. Period!The novel really does “sneak up on you” as one critic said, and you will find yourself reading and reading and immersing yourself in this world and you probably will not even be able to explain why. For the last 40 pages, I could/ would not put the novel down. And the ending is true, quick, honest, and brutal all in one. When I look at major moments in my own life they just happened, and then they were done. The consequences long outweigh the action and this novel captures that truth of our humanity perfectly....more

Oh, what a lovely novel this is. It is the story of Eilis, a young woman from small-town Ireland who moves to America in the 1950s and finds herself all alone in the strange city of Brooklyn.

If you have seen the movie version, a beautiful film starring Saoirse Ronan, you know the basic outline of the plot: Eilis rents a room in Brooklyn and finds a job in a shop. She becomes so homesick that she makes herself ill. She starts taking night classes, and later meets a nice boy at a dance. EventuallOh, what a lovely novel this is. It is the story of Eilis, a young woman from small-town Ireland who moves to America in the 1950s and finds herself all alone in the strange city of Brooklyn.

If you have seen the movie version, a beautiful film starring Saoirse Ronan, you know the basic outline of the plot: Eilis rents a room in Brooklyn and finds a job in a shop. She becomes so homesick that she makes herself ill. She starts taking night classes, and later meets a nice boy at a dance. Eventually, she has a difficult choice to make: stay in America or return to Ireland?

But this is one of those novels in which there is greater feeling and emotion than the simple story would imply, because we are following the heart and mind of an independent being. Eilis is a character who is fully formed — we know her thoughts and desires, and we silently urge her on her journey.

I was excited to read this book when I saw a quote from the author, saying he was inspired by Jane Austen and her "method of examining a single psychology, using an introspective, sensitive heroine, some comic characters and some romance." I love all things Jane Austen, and was eager to see how Mr. Tóibín would apply that method. The result is charming and heartfelt, loving and bittersweet. At times I was moved to tears for Eilis, and at others, so anxious for her that I had to remind myself it was just a novel, just a novel.

But is it just a novel? America is a country of immigrants, with millions of stories, and this is one of them. It's a beautiful story, and one I will cherish.

Favorite Quotes"Until now, Eilis had always presumed that she would live in the town all her life, as her mother had done, knowing everyone, having the same friends and neighbours, the same routines in the same streets. She had expected that she would find a job in the town, and then marry someone and give up the job and have children. Now, she felt that she was being singled out for something for which she was not in any way prepared."

[on her desperate homesickness] "None of them could help her. She had lost all of them. They would not find out about this; she would not put it into a letter. And because of this she understood that they would never know her now."

[on a harsh winter in Brooklyn]"It made her almost smile at the idea that no one in Ireland knew that America was the coldest place on earth and its people on a cold morning like this the most deeply miserable."...more

Quick and easy read. A coming of age story about an Irish working-class girl who immigrates all alone to Brooklyn. Simple sums it up. The protagonist, the prose, the setting, the story, right down to the 50’s era, a simpler time. Not to be confused with easy, never that. Thought Colm’s depiction of Eilis Lacey’s feelings of alienation "the rest of her life would be a struggle with the unfamiliar" & battle with depression "all of the colour had been washed out of her world" well done. As forQuick and easy read. A coming of age story about an Irish working-class girl who immigrates all alone to Brooklyn. Simple sums it up. The protagonist, the prose, the setting, the story, right down to the 50’s era, a simpler time. Not to be confused with easy, never that. Thought Colm’s depiction of Eilis Lacey’s feelings of alienation "the rest of her life would be a struggle with the unfamiliar" & battle with depression "all of the colour had been washed out of her world" well done. As for Eilis…Reserved, painfully passive and singularly focused on doing what’s expected of her. While I admired her and sympathized with her plight, the combination of aloofness & meekness did not make for a happy mix, tough to warm up to.

Not till over halfway in did this story grab me but once it did it held on. With conflict & the complications of life kicking in "The answer was that there was no answer, that nothing she could do would be right. And she saw all three of them as figures whom she could only damage, as innocent people surrounded by light and clarity, and circling around them was herself, dark, uncertain." and Eilis maturing into someone more interesting. I’m glad I saw it through, had fun with her moral struggle and flash of rebellion. As for the book’s conclusion? Poignant and perfect!So 3 1/2 stars rounded down to 3 - less a reflection of the novel’s merits, more on my inability to empathize with the main character.

Cons: The writing is really simplistic. Not faulting him, an appropriate choice for the voice of an unsophisticated young girl. Maybe he pulled it off to well......more

When I finished this novel I felt as if I had just been uprooted. Something was tearing inside me.

No, don’t think it was because the novel mesmerized me. It was something else. Strange.

The first half of the novel was an amiable read, calm. Toibin’s clear and relaxed writing and bittersweet story opened horizons.

The story of a young woman, in the nineteen fifties, who has no other prospect in her small town in Ireland but to find, almost desperately, a suitable husband, emigrates alone, to the

When I finished this novel I felt as if I had just been uprooted. Something was tearing inside me.

No, don’t think it was because the novel mesmerized me. It was something else. Strange.

The first half of the novel was an amiable read, calm. Toibin’s clear and relaxed writing and bittersweet story opened horizons.

The story of a young woman, in the nineteen fifties, who has no other prospect in her small town in Ireland but to find, almost desperately, a suitable husband, emigrates alone, to the New World. There is little anguish in comparison to other immigrant stories, since she has an entry and a post. Miraculous? – May be; the priest and may be his god had arranged it. The theme of exile had a decaffeinated strength.

For me the the novel offered also personal parallels, on several planes. But just when I was beginning to feel that in spite of the pleasant reading walk, it seemed to be leading nowhere, Bang!, the walk came to a chasm.

As the plot takes a turn, the fragility of uprooting is exposed and explored. The novel extends into a new dimension and acquires more depth. And yet, to me it was not believable. Not because of the story but because the main character for me failed to stand up. Circumstances were leading her hopelessly, and her wimpy will seemed entirely unable to bring things out into the open, to others and to herself, and procrastination reigned supreme. For me she ceased to be an interesting personality. I just felt irritation. Every time a new sentence in which in the first half the character declared her intentions and was followed by a second half which started with ‘but’, I just cringed. She was not believable.

What could have been a fascinating analysis of the trauma brought by emigration, in which uprooting means leaving the subject exposed to a degree that makes it difficult to predict whether those exposed roots will be able to provide a base again, was for me left unresolved.

When I finished the novel, then, I felt uprooted. I was so disconcerted, so at odds with the book, so unable to let it be as it was when I finished it, that I felt unable to pick up another read for a while.

When we read we grow these weird mental roots inside the book; like tentacles they weave through the words, the lines, the sentences. These reading roots twist themselves around the characters, the imagined settings, and the rhythm of the text. By the time we turn the last page, a vivid form must have emerged.

For me this was not to be this time. The book did not resolve because it did not dwell enough. And I was left deracinated....more

OK, Man Booker award people, listen up! If this book doesn't win this year, you are dead to me, you hear?

I've said it elsewhere on this site, but it bears repeating. Colm Toibin is a genius. This is a man who has, on various occasions brought me inside the heads of:

• a gay man in Ireland suffering from AIDS and the women in his family ("The Blackwater Lightship")• a compromised Argentine English teacher exploring his sexuality in the time of the fall of the military junta (“The Story of the nighOK, Man Booker award people, listen up! If this book doesn't win this year, you are dead to me, you hear?

I've said it elsewhere on this site, but it bears repeating. Colm Toibin is a genius. This is a man who has, on various occasions brought me inside the heads of:

• a gay man in Ireland suffering from AIDS and the women in his family ("The Blackwater Lightship")• a compromised Argentine English teacher exploring his sexuality in the time of the fall of the military junta (“The Story of the night”)• Henry James in his middle years (“The Master”)• an IRA gunman turned art thief (“Mothers and Sons”)• an Irish high court judge (“The Heather Blazing”)• and, most recently, Eilis Lacey, the stunningly ordinary, but completely unforgettable, heroine of “Brooklyn”, his latest novel.

Where does Toibin’s particular genius lie? Well, there’s the writing, of course. Which is remarkable for being so completely unremarkable. If that seems like a backhanded compliment, let me assure you that it is meant as quite the reverse. I think it takes a phenomenal talent (and a certain gutsy confidence in one’s own talent, which the author most definitely has, and just as definitely has earned) to write as unobtrusively as Toibin does. Nothing in his style draws attention to himself as author. Instead, time after time, he finds the right voice, so that the writing flows in a completely natural way, without a word in the wrong place.

How does he do this? The answer brings us close to the scary heart of his genius, I think. It’s because Toibin lets his characters take over in a way that few other authors manage to do. He becomes them, he channels them. To say they are “fully realized”, “deftly drawn”, that they “come to life on the page” – whatever reviewer’s cliché comes to mind – doesn’t even begin to do him justice. Empathy is surely one of the qualities we expect from any great novelist, and Toibin does empathy like no other modern writer I know. I find his ability to inhabit his characters both fascinating and scary. It scares me because it so exceeds my own powers of imagination. No matter what, or when, I write, I can never get away from being me, a very particular individual, with my own very specific 52-year old history. It’s probably why I have never understood the fascination of online role-playing games, or the ability of others to fabricate alternate online personae – no matter the forum, with me it’s pretty much WYSIWYG all the way.

But it’s one of the reasons I prefer fiction to non-fiction – if only vicariously, I find that truly good fiction has the power to take me out of myself, and to stretch my capacity for empathy, even if it’s only briefly. In his novels, Colm Toibin does this over and over again. I imagine it as being a wholly draining experience for him. But as a reader, my admiration for him is boundless.

I’d like to close this review by offering my congratulations on his upcoming receipt of this year’s Booker prize*. Because if there is any justice at all in this world, this is a man who has it coming.

Read this book. Read all of his books. And see if you don’t agree with me.

Zoe Heller said Brooklyn was the most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman she has read in a long time and though I’d give that accolade to the narrator of A Girl is a Half Formed Thing there is much that’s moving and compelling in this novel. In fact it’s hard to fault except perhaps to say that it’s composed on a small canvas and so lacks the breadth of a truly thrilling and first rate novel. Basically it’s a concise and artful study of the sensibility of a young girl who suddenly fZoe Heller said Brooklyn was the most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman she has read in a long time and though I’d give that accolade to the narrator of A Girl is a Half Formed Thing there is much that’s moving and compelling in this novel. In fact it’s hard to fault except perhaps to say that it’s composed on a small canvas and so lacks the breadth of a truly thrilling and first rate novel. Basically it’s a concise and artful study of the sensibility of a young girl who suddenly finds herself uprooted - a young Irish girl, Eilis who, faced with a lack of opportunities at home, is encouraged by her sister to emigrate alone to Brooklyn. The prose is simple and lucid – never straying into linguistic territory the protagonist herself would be incapable of formulating. Eilis herself is both easily pleased and fickle. She appears to suffer from a lack of imagination which means ultimately she will always choose the pragmatic option. And this becomes a novel about how easily we are ensnared by fate, or rather, how casually we can make fateful decisions and are then ensnared by one narrative at the expense of the alternatives. I tend to favour writers who are capable of formulating sentences beyond my own capabilities, who can enliven the world with feats of linguistic artistry and there is no such writing in Brooklyn for which I’m going to be a bit stingy with my stars. Immensely charming though it is Brooklyn ultimately is more of a paddle than a swim. ...more

This was a book club pick, so not something I would have selected myself, and I endeavor to fail on the side of generosity when it comes to authors whose works I read without any personal investment.

That said, I don't get the enthusiasm some have for this novel. I kept expecting it to turn into more - more depth, more conflict, more despair or happiness or excitement or loneliness, or struggle. It didn't. It glanced at racial issues in the 1950's for a few pages, leading me to think we might getThis was a book club pick, so not something I would have selected myself, and I endeavor to fail on the side of generosity when it comes to authors whose works I read without any personal investment.

That said, I don't get the enthusiasm some have for this novel. I kept expecting it to turn into more - more depth, more conflict, more despair or happiness or excitement or loneliness, or struggle. It didn't. It glanced at racial issues in the 1950's for a few pages, leading me to think we might get somewhere meaty and interesting. Then the topic was never addressed again. It glanced at the possibility of same-gender harassment by a boss, when no one else was in the facility, leading me to anticipate additional similar events or tension or conflict. No. Nothing. It glanced at the tension between Irish and Italians in Brooklyn in the 1950s, but -- again, nothing. In the interest of full disclosure, my Irish grandmother married my Italian grandfather, and they raised several kids in Brooklyn, so I've got some skin in this game. Toibin doesn't get close to explaining to the reader the views each group had of the other at that time.

In the end, we spend 260 pages with a character who is largely flat - never gloriously happy, drifting into a relationship with a man who borders on too perfect, ever-patient, just. not. real. Our protagonist doesn't appear to have learned anything throughout the novel other than how to cross the Atlantic well, and how to apply make-up. And then it ends. As if a timer went off. Nothing's resolved. I enjoyed reading Brooklyn, in terms of the easiness of Toibin's prose style. But his 1950's Brooklyn isn't real to me. I am amazed someone thought there was enough here to turn into a movie; then again I understand that the movie ends differently. Not surprising, really.

My 3 stars probably should be 2 stars, but Brooklyn is an easy read and deserves credit for that. So 1 extra star is for whatever magic Brooklyn has, to which I am immune....more

Thinking again about this lovely book, nearly seven years after I first read it, how it has stayed with me, how Tóibín has moved and influenced me as a reader and a writer.

Original Review, posted June 7, 2009

This gentle, quietly resonant novel showed me a new side of Colm Tóibín's writing. At first blush it seems a simple coming-of-age story of a young Irish immigrant alone in New York. But Tóibín, though he writes with affection, keeps enough distance from his characters to allow his reader toThinking again about this lovely book, nearly seven years after I first read it, how it has stayed with me, how Tóibín has moved and influenced me as a reader and a writer.

Original Review, posted June 7, 2009

This gentle, quietly resonant novel showed me a new side of Colm Tóibín's writing. At first blush it seems a simple coming-of-age story of a young Irish immigrant alone in New York. But Tóibín, though he writes with affection, keeps enough distance from his characters to allow his reader to form opinions about the choices these characters make and the motivations behind their actions.

He shows, rather than tells, the bewilderment and liberation that are part of a willing immigrant's experience; how the absence of the familiar can lead one to behave in bold or reckless or shameful ways. He also captures perfectly the returned immigrant's experience—the reverse culture shock that occurs when returning to one's homeland. The immigrant, the sojourner, has changed, yet everything and everyone at home remains as it was. Tóibín reveals this sense of dislocation, how it feels to be of both worlds yet not belonging fully to either. Tóibín allows Eilis, his young immigrant, to experience her life without clouding her actions in pop-psychology self-awareness. This is a gracious, sweet and subtle story from a master of nuance and heart. ...more

I was hugely dissapointed in this book. Amazon.com reviewer "Flibertigibbit" says it best, so I am just going to quote her here:

Brooklyn is flat and dull. This, incidentally, has little to do with Toibin's famously economical prose style - which I love. The principal problem is with characterisation. The characters are cardboard cut-out, lacking in complexity, unrealised and utterly unconvincing. The central character is so passive that it is scarcely believable and she simply can not sustain myI was hugely dissapointed in this book. Amazon.com reviewer "Flibertigibbit" says it best, so I am just going to quote her here:

Brooklyn is flat and dull. This, incidentally, has little to do with Toibin's famously economical prose style - which I love. The principal problem is with characterisation. The characters are cardboard cut-out, lacking in complexity, unrealised and utterly unconvincing. The central character is so passive that it is scarcely believable and she simply can not sustain my interest. Toibin indulges in long descriptive passages telling us about his protagonist's state of mind, her intentions and reasons and her reflections on events. Very rarely however is any of this conveyed in conversation between the characters. There are very few passages of dialogue - certainly any meaningful dialogue. This, for me, is a telling manifestation of the characterisation problem. Toibin can not give these characters a voice - because he does not really believe in them. You combine this with a very dull chronology of events that is the framework for the story and really, you have nothing.

I completely disagree with the reviewers in the British media and the New York Times who are falling over themselves to find the positives in this novel. One reviewer suggests that the novel is in some way deceptively simple and subversive. So I suppose if you disagree with them it's just because you were not sufficiently alert or intelligent to see the subversion. Nonsense. They are being hugely dishonest about all this - why, I do not know. Toibin's editors and publishers are advising him badly and must only be interested in promoting him as a literary star - thereby promoting themselves. ...more

This is a book about Eilis Lacey, a young woman who, searching for better job opportunities, moves from Enniscorthy, Ireland, not far from Dublin, to Brooklyn in NYC. It is the 1950s. The move has been arranged by Eilis’ elder sister by introducing her to a Catholic priest visiting from Brooklyn. Eilis is a hard worker and she has taken classes in bookkeeping. Father Flood, the visiting priest, speaks of the excellent job opportunities that were to be found in the States. He sponsors her. She trThis is a book about Eilis Lacey, a young woman who, searching for better job opportunities, moves from Enniscorthy, Ireland, not far from Dublin, to Brooklyn in NYC. It is the 1950s. The move has been arranged by Eilis’ elder sister by introducing her to a Catholic priest visiting from Brooklyn. Eilis is a hard worker and she has taken classes in bookkeeping. Father Flood, the visiting priest, speaks of the excellent job opportunities that were to be found in the States. He sponsors her. She travels alone on a ship in third class and alone she arrives in the US. I am stressing the word “alone”, because that is how she is feeling, utterly alone. There is not a soul to help her if something should go wrong. She has no relatives waiting for her in the States. All feels foreign--from the food, to the clothing, to the mannerisms of the people.

Eilis is doing what all those around her say is best. One senses her insecurity, her meekness, her inability to do anything other than what is asked of her. She is carried along in life by what others do or have decided rather than her own decisions. She reacts rather than taking the initiative. She is sweet, naïve and kind. but totally unable to say no or oppose that suggested to her.

We follow what happens in America. At first, she is homesick, but she works hard and diligently continues to study bookkeeping. She adjusts. She begins to make something of her new life. She meets people. She meets Tony Fiorello, a young Italian plumber. An attraction grows. Then, something happens; she must return home to Ireland. Will she stay permanently in Ireland or will she return again to the US? That is the question.

This is a story about immigration, about whom Eilis will choose to marry and a coming-of-age story. The reader watches to see if / how Eilis matures. The extent to which you enjoy this book and which of the three themes you see as most important will depend upon your own age, personality and experiences.

How an immigrant views a new land is tied closely to their personality and the specific circumstances lying behind their immigration. One cannot generalize. I have lived in different countries, but I felt that to judge the book fairly, I had to see Eilis’ world through her eyes, not my own. She and I have very different personalities. The reasons and circumstance behind our respective moves differ too. With this in mind, it was important for me to see how well the author drew Eilis’ character. Would the author draw Eilis with such vivid detail that I would be able to see through her eyes rather than my own? Yes, he does. Even if I do not like Eilis’ meek character, her lack of gumption and her total inability to think for herself, the choices she ends up making feel like the choices such a person would make. It is for this reason I like the book. The author has drawn a realistic story. What each character does makes sense.

I like the story because of the depth with which the characters are drawn, not only Eilis but also the subsidiary characters too. What each one does and says fits their personality. The difference between Eilis’ two suitors made me smile. Each one came to have their own identity.

However, that I found Elise to be so meek didn’t exactly improve the book for me. In fact, this got me quite annoyed. Another thing that irked me, was the extent to which those in her family avoided all that even hinted of confrontation. Consistently, they chose to skirt around problems rather than openly talking and resolving them. Letters sent had little content. Lying and silence were often resorted to. Also, the love theme, who Eilis should marry, bored me.

The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Niamh Cusak. She captures Irish, British, Italian and American accents well. She made each of the different characters sound just as they should. Eilis, the matron and girls at the boardinghouse in Brooklyn, the bitchy shopkeeper at Eilis’ last Irish employment, Eilis’ mother, her two suitors and her Irish friends are each intoned wonderfully. The author’s depiction of these characters is enhanced by the narration.

My reaction to the book is mixed. Whether you should read the book depends on what you personally are looking for. Are the themes mentioned interesting to you? Is a submissive, meek central character going to annoy you?...more

3.5/5 stars▶ Well, you're about to enter the land of the free and the brave▶ Wear your coat over your arm and look as though you know where you're going▶ Don't look too innocent▶ Try not to look so frightened▶ The only thing they can stop you for is if they think you have TB, so don't cough whatever you do▶ Brooklyn changes every day▶ New people arrive and they could be Jewish or Irish or Polish or even coloured.

Set in the 1950's, in a time after the second world war, this relates the story of E3.5/5 stars▶ Well, you're about to enter the land of the free and the brave▶ Wear your coat over your arm and look as though you know where you're going▶ Don't look too innocent▶ Try not to look so frightened▶ The only thing they can stop you for is if they think you have TB, so don't cough whatever you do▶ Brooklyn changes every day▶ New people arrive and they could be Jewish or Irish or Polish or even coloured.

Set in the 1950's, in a time after the second world war, this relates the story of Eilis Lacey, a young Irish woman, who with the help of her older sister and a priest gets an opportunity to leave her small Irish town to seek a better life in America. In Brooklyn, New York, Eilis begins her new life as a resident in a boardinghouse owned by Mrs Kehoe. During the day she works at a department store, and at night, she attends night classes where she studies bookkeeping. It's only a matter of time before homesickness sets in, leaving Eilis feeling sad and depressed. During an Irish dance, Eilis meets Tony, an Italian plumber (don't roll your eyes, it's an honorable job.) and they fall in love.She falls in love with him.He falls in love with her.I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that part out. I'll explain later on.

MY THOUGHTSThe writing: The narrative style uses the third person narrative to relate the story. And you all know, I'm a bit iffy about third person narratives. The writing itself, to be honest, was just serviceable. No grandiosity to it, it wasn't resplendent neither was it awe-inspiring. It was Juuuuust serviceable. It would be paramount to note that this story isn't bubbly, and while the story is centered on romance more than anything else, the tone of the book is really calm. So calm it bordered on gloomy.

I felt like the story was very disjointed. The romance was a bit speedy, don't get me wrong though, I did like it. It was sweet. But, the thing is, I watched and loved the movie adaptation SO FREAKING MUCH-and it's not just because of Saoirse Ronan(though I will watch anything she stars in). The interpretation of the book, and portrayal of the story was banshee-screaming-ear-splittingly awesome. I loved how the characters were portrayed, especially the character of Tony. So you see, I had badass expectations because of the movie, so regardless of the disjointedness of the story and serviceable writing, I had a portrait of Tony-and the other characters-to look forward to. And it carried me through the story.

THE ROMANCELike I said, it was sweet. But there was a great misbalance, or at least that's how It felt to me. So to describe Tony's character, the words that come to mind are: boyish, playful, free-spirited, flower child, sweet, cute, and did I say boyish and cute? Well put them both together and you have boyishly cute. What he lacked physically, he compensated greatly for behaviorally. And what about Eilis? Well...to be honest the only word that comes to mind is cold fish. I swear, her character was so hard for me to decipher. IS still hard for me to decipher. I think she wasn't an exerting enough character, I only liked her when she was with Tony. Never as an individual. And that is so wrong.There were so many times when I couldn't even feel her love for Tony at all. It's just like they were in love with each other at different times, and hardly ever at the same time. Hence my indecisiveness about who fell in love with who. But Tony was the one doing most of the loving, in my opinion. MY TONY.

THE REAL PLOT IN 7-or more or less-LINES :DIt's not all about Tony and Eilis. The truth is there are two guys involved in this story: Two guys, two countries, one girl, one choice. The truth is this story isn't just about romance: It's about finding home, discovering yourself and knowing where the little pieces that make you fit into the messed up puzzle that is life, it's about choices and the consequences of those choices, it's about being human. It's simply about humanity.

Sooo about 74% gone into the book, something happens. Something that changed how I looked at Tony a little bit. I won't say what it is, but I'll tell you it has do with...bodily functions. And it left me feeling like Tony wasn't really as selfless and considerate as I thought he was. Maybe it's just the way I read it, maybe I read too much into it, maybe other people won't find a problem with that particular part. But I did.I AUTOMATICALLY WENT FROM THIS:#SWOONTO THIS Tony broke my soul. And I just couldn't look at him the same way again. I was mad, I was crushed. Let's leave it at that.

THE OTHER CHARACTERS There are secondary characters who, to me, proved very important in this story. The first two are: ☑ The priest who helped who continuously helps Eilis.☑ Mrs Kehoe (Eilis's landlady)These two characters would argue the saying that "All faith in humanity is lost". Their great display of kindness and love is so uplifting and inspiring, it can only remind you of a truth, though shadowed, is still true-humans have a great and tremendous capacity to love. Sometimes it's hard to see it, yes, but it's there. We are not unrecoverable, neither are we hopeless. That's why the characters above were the ones to whom I was greatly endeared to. I love everything they stand for, everything they represent, and they added significantly to the little satisfaction I got from this book.

OTHER SECONDARY CHARACTERS (BOARDERS LIVING IN THE BOARDINGHOUSE )Trust me, these characters' stupidity and idiocy were detrimental to the development of the story. So we must applaud them. To being moronic!SEE EVEN THE PEOPLE AT HOGWARTS ARE PLEASED☑ Sheila and McAdamThese girls made me want to hurl. Whenever they opened their mouths, the only things that crossed my mind wereAND AGAIN☑ Patty and Diana:

(BLANK SPACE)

☑ Miss Kelly(Eilis's devious former employer in Ireland)DO I REGRET READING THIS? SHOULD YOU READ IT? YES. FORM YOUR OWN OPINION, EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTIFUL AND ONEROUS. BUT DON'T YOU DARE STEAL MY TONY. DONNEVEN....more

It was not the most compelling or riveting book I have ever read, yet the gentle tone surrounding the story of an Irish girl settling all alone in America, with just a priest as her only contact with home, was deeply touching.

Compared to Frank McCourt's approach, this novel took the sting out of poverty and hardship and tinted the life of a young girl leaving home in the Fifties for a foreign country, with sanguine, roseate hues. The realism of her life in transition, and her efforts to adjustIt was not the most compelling or riveting book I have ever read, yet the gentle tone surrounding the story of an Irish girl settling all alone in America, with just a priest as her only contact with home, was deeply touching.

Compared to Frank McCourt's approach, this novel took the sting out of poverty and hardship and tinted the life of a young girl leaving home in the Fifties for a foreign country, with sanguine, roseate hues. The realism of her life in transition, and her efforts to adjust in both worlds - a small town in Ireland, versus the big city, New York in America - is very real. Her seasickness on board the ship heading for America is almost metaphorical.

Lonelines, homesickness, combined with new opportunities and a broader exposure to more cultures, ultimately leads to unforeseen, regrettable decisions, spurred by her innocence, unworldliness and her unwillingness to take the lead.

Eilise is not used to making her own decisions. Almost apathetically, she floats from one person's idea of how her life should be lived to another, until she finally has to stand up and take over the wheel of her destiny with some secret regrets that will remain with her for the rest of her life.

Brooklyn is an inspirational story, a cozy read, if you value the romantic influences of Irish roses. Sometimes they are hauntingly beautiful indeed......more

I’d describe this as a quiet book. The author does a great job of entering into the mind of a young girl and I especially enjoyed his descriptions of her loneliness and romantic aspirations. I also really enjoyed the sharply observed period detail. Perhaps what was in those days a momentous upheaval – a young Irish girl travelling alone to find a new life in New York – is nowadays far less of a big deal which showed how much life has changed for young girls in the past half century. This was alsI’d describe this as a quiet book. The author does a great job of entering into the mind of a young girl and I especially enjoyed his descriptions of her loneliness and romantic aspirations. I also really enjoyed the sharply observed period detail. Perhaps what was in those days a momentous upheaval – a young Irish girl travelling alone to find a new life in New York – is nowadays far less of a big deal which showed how much life has changed for young girls in the past half century. This was also true of prevailing moral attitudes and the author did a thoroughly convincing job of creating this more censorious climate. It’s a simple story with ostensibly not much at stake except the emotional wellbeing of a young girl but the author’s perceptive observations gave this story a depth beyond its surface storyline. I didn’t quite love it but I certainly enjoyed it. ...more

“She felt almost guilty that she had handed some of her grief to him, and then she felt close to him for his willingness to take it and hold it, in all its rawness, all its dark confusion.”― Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn

Sometimes you read a book because you want to be overloaded. You want a prose whirlwind. You want maximalism and fractals and endnotes and echoes. You want to feel lost and found, buried and redeemed. This isn't that book. This is the book you read because you want serenity, peace, and“She felt almost guilty that she had handed some of her grief to him, and then she felt close to him for his willingness to take it and hold it, in all its rawness, all its dark confusion.”― Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn

Sometimes you read a book because you want to be overloaded. You want a prose whirlwind. You want maximalism and fractals and endnotes and echoes. You want to feel lost and found, buried and redeemed. This isn't that book. This is the book you read because you want serenity, peace, and careful beauty. You want quiet control. You are seeking a beautiful story told beautifully. This is a violin solo and a ballet.

I own a bunch of Colm Tóibín (I purchased this, The Master, The Story of the Night, The South, etc., right before we went to Ireland last year, but ended up reading another couple Irish writers*). Anywho, my wife read it, and since our reading venn diagram has a very narrow overlap, I jumped at the chance to read it after she finished just to have a common book to talk to her about. Finally, I read this because I saw the movie with my wife and liked it (the screenplay was adapted by Nick Hornby, which going in with no hints or trailers was a good sign). With all that in mind, I figured I might as well start my Tóibín journey here.

It wasn't a perfect novel, but WAS a near perfect example of immigrant fiction. The arc of the story and the characters are almost perfectly rendered. It was longlisted for the Man Booker in 2009. Sometimes you don't win the Booker, but you DO get your book optioned and turned into a solid movie.

Eilis lives in a small Irish village in the early 1950s with her sister and widowed mother. At about twenty years old, she is unsophisticated and had never been away from home. There are few job prospects--or marital prospects--in the village so her mother and sister give Eilis an opportunity to immigrate to America. Eilis had no great desire to leave Ireland, and she just accepts other people planning her life. She comes from a family that is placid on the surface, with little discussion of theEilis lives in a small Irish village in the early 1950s with her sister and widowed mother. At about twenty years old, she is unsophisticated and had never been away from home. There are few job prospects--or marital prospects--in the village so her mother and sister give Eilis an opportunity to immigrate to America. Eilis had no great desire to leave Ireland, and she just accepts other people planning her life. She comes from a family that is placid on the surface, with little discussion of their emotions.

An Irish-American priest in Brooklyn arranges for Eilis to work in a department store, live in a boardinghouse with other Irish girls, and take night courses in bookkeeping. When she meets a handsome, cheerful, Italian man who genuinely cares for her, Eilis seems to just fall into the relationship. Their relationship and her bookkeeping courses fill her time so she feels less homesick for Ireland.

When a family tragedy occurs, Eilis is called back to Ireland. She gets into a comfortable routine with her old friends who admire her new American clothes and hairstyle, and feel her new confidence. Eilis has roots in Ireland, but now also has opportunities and obligations in America. Is she going to make her own choices, or will other people and circumstances make the choice for her? Along with the usual coming-of-age challenges, Eilis was also trying to find out where she wanted to call home.

I especially liked the author's use of local color in Ireland, on the ship crossing the Atlantic, and various places in New York such as Coney Island and a Brooklyn Dodgers game. He did a great job of imagining 1950s New York. I often wondered how many emotions Eilis was hiding below the surface and wished I could see more into her mind, especially at the end of the book. 3.5 stars.

6/25/16 I loved the film, and felt it stayed true to the spirit of the story. The ending was more definitive than the book....more

Many people loved this book, but it made me angry. A young Irish girl allows life to happen to her, never taking initiative. She makes a series of horrible decisions (maybe non-decisions is a better way to describe them) which cause pain to those who care for her or lie like unexploded bombs still waiting to be discovered when the story abruptly ends. She repeatedly displays a lack of awareness or concern for the feelings of others as she floats along her unfocused path. Toibin writes beautifullMany people loved this book, but it made me angry. A young Irish girl allows life to happen to her, never taking initiative. She makes a series of horrible decisions (maybe non-decisions is a better way to describe them) which cause pain to those who care for her or lie like unexploded bombs still waiting to be discovered when the story abruptly ends. She repeatedly displays a lack of awareness or concern for the feelings of others as she floats along her unfocused path. Toibin writes beautifully, but for me the story was frustrating and depressing. Poor Tony has a rough time ahead of him....more

Brooklyn tells the tale of a young Irish girl named Eilis who, unable to find suitable work, leaves her home behind her for the opportunities that America, and in particular Brooklyn, has to offer.

“She was nobody here. It was not just that she had no friends and family; it was rather that she was a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor. Nothing meant anything. The rooms in the house on Friary Street belonged to her, she thought; when she moved in them she was

Brooklyn tells the tale of a young Irish girl named Eilis who, unable to find suitable work, leaves her home behind her for the opportunities that America, and in particular Brooklyn, has to offer.

“She was nobody here. It was not just that she had no friends and family; it was rather that she was a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor. Nothing meant anything. The rooms in the house on Friary Street belonged to her, she thought; when she moved in them she was really there. In the town, if she walked to the shop or to the Vocational School, the air, the light, the ground, it was all solid and part of her, even if she met no one familiar. Nothing here was part of her. It was false, empty, she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to think, as she had done so many times in her life, of something she was looking forward to, but there was nothing. Not the slightest thing. Not even Sunday. Nothing maybe except sleep, and she was not even certain she was looking forward to sleep”

This is a very quiet and subtle book. Eilis, the lead character, is extremely passive. She is not the feisty, badass heroine that so many other books try to write young women to be. She is reserved and noncommittal, never quite saying what it is she is truly feeling. But that is the beauty of 'Brooklyn', Eilis does not know how to give herself truly to anything; she does not yet know how she feels about life. So often her decisions have been made for her…including the decision for her to move to America. That was decided by her family and the priest. And she just willingly accepted her fate… And yet I really liked Eilis. Okay at times I did want to almost shake her into making her mind up… especially when it came to her romantic interests… but that transition period from being under a parent’s wing to making decisions about your long term future is not easy. And I think it was beautifully handled.

“Until now, Eilis had always presumed that she would live in the town all her life, as her mother had done, knowing everyone, having the same friends and neighbours, the same routines in the same streets. She had expected that she would find a job in the town, and then marry someone and give up the job and have children.”

I really enjoyed Colm Tóibín’s writing style. It felt familiar; like home. His turn of phrase, expressions used… they were simple yet beautiful. The characters spoke my language, they phrased things how I hear them phrased every day… yet it was all so very quiet, and so very understated. I don’t often enjoy reading books by Irish authors; I tend to get overly critical of how they are portraying my beautiful homeland to the world at large… Yet this time I was happy! There were no clichéd descriptions of rolling mists or mossy this or thats…. okay yes, we have all that here… (You want green? We have got A LOT of green!!!) But this time it didn’t feel like some tourist board advertisement, the descriptions of Enniscorthy town, of the surrounding Wexford countryside… it all felt more authentic, tangible. Okay I’m intimately familiar with all things Wexford so I’m sure that influenced me but I really felt he captured an authentic snapshot of what life was like in 1950s Ireland. Colm Tóibín himself is from Enniscorthy and you could really feel his grá (love) for his hometown in how he wrote Eilis.

And then when the action of the novel moved to America it felt very real too... I loved the idiosyncratic on-goings of the characters in the boarding house in which Eilis lived. I very much enjoyed reading about her experiences at work, her studies… In Brooklyn Eilis met a boy… this wasn’t some fiery, passionate romance… that wouldn’t be very ‘Eilis’. Theirs was a love story that perhaps burned brighter for one over the other… It was all so quietly written about. Normally I like a book to have characters with lots of depth and lots of backstory… We didn’t really get that in this book… and that wasn’t a bad thing! It just further illustrated the isolation and loneliness that was experienced by young women like Eilis who moved to America in the 1950s… How being in America changed you, made you different to those left behind at home. It is a story that members of my own extended family could relate to you.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. So much so that I stayed awake into the wee small hours of the morning reading it. It is a very easy and calming read. It is not a book for those of you who love action and adventure; it probably is not even a book for those of you who love only romance… but it is a book for those of you who like a quieter more gentle type of read.

four stars

“None of them could help her. She had lost all of them. They would not find out about this; she would not put it into a letter. And because of this she understood that they would never know her now. Maybe, she thought, they had never known her, any of them, because if they had, then they would have had to realise what this would be like for her.”

A beautiful story, a careful, slow build of character. Impeccable writing - spare, intense, precise. Deceptively simple at the sentence level; yet so perfectly matched to the character Toibin is creating and the story he is telling. This writing is stunning in its simplicity and its power.

Eilis is a wonderful protagonist, whose inner conflicts are shown through her experiences. At the same time, Toibin takes us into her head and lets us see how she works through major decision points. And it's tA beautiful story, a careful, slow build of character. Impeccable writing - spare, intense, precise. Deceptively simple at the sentence level; yet so perfectly matched to the character Toibin is creating and the story he is telling. This writing is stunning in its simplicity and its power.

Eilis is a wonderful protagonist, whose inner conflicts are shown through her experiences. At the same time, Toibin takes us into her head and lets us see how she works through major decision points. And it's the many choices that Eilis makes that propel this plot forward. It's the people she encounters along the way - how they help or hinder her - and what that reveals about the journey (physical, emotional) she is experiencing.

Toibin shows us Eilis's world as an individual story - but a representative one, too. It's the world of an Irish emigrant to Brooklyn in the 50s - within two contexts: the one she is leaving, and the one she is entering.

We are rooting for her all the way. We expect - at least, I expected - trauma at every turn of the page. Grand drama, lots of drinking, grinding poverty and the gruelling process of escape from it. So, way to set my expectations - stereotypes - on their head, Mr. Toibin.

No annoying exposition - just scene after brilliantly-constructed scene that reveal character (her own and others) and themes.

Gentle, kind, humane. Even the characters with petty jealousies and meanness, narrowness of views and outright racism - are presented with compassion. Lovely parallels (Mrs. Kelly and Ms. Fortini - two shopkeepers: one mean, narrow and spiteful; and the other progressive, compassionate albeit not effusive, professional - the old and new worlds. They don't collide - they just stand as parallels. One being left behind, and one forging ahead, tottering toward the future on newborn-foal legs, and with the same courage). We do not blame Mrs. Kelly - we recognize that she is from a time and that time is being left behind. Progress, evolution is occurring - embodied in Eilis' journey and metaphorically, through the emigrant experience in general.

I especially loved the way the immigrant/emigrant experience was presented in the duality of personality that Eilis came to feel, which made her choice - at the end - all the more wrenching.

The scene of the two black women buying stockings (colour: Red Fox) where Eilis works - and where she has been hand-picked to serve this new `target market` - is masterful. The details -- Red Fox stockings, set aside on a separate table in a separate part of the store ("When the new colours of Coffee and Sepia came it was her job to point out to the customers that these were lighter colours but most of them ignored her. By the end of each of these days she felt exhausted and found her lectures in the evening almost relaxing, relieved that there was something to take her mind off the fierce tension in the store, which lay heaviest around her counter." p. 117) -- so subtle, yet with such massive impact.

You feel this writing, more than read it. The cast-down eyes, the quietness that falls upon the bustling store as the shoppers enter, the careful acceptance of their money and provision of their change. There are all kinds of these moments of built-up tension, not actually released, conveyed and capped off, in this scene, by Eilis's own neutral observation and question ("She wished she had not been singled out to stand at this counter and wondered if, in time, she would be moved to another part of the store."). If for no other reason, read this book for this scene.

A great priest.

A great love story - two, in fact.

A must-read.

More Toibin is going on my list IMMEDIATELY. Thank you to David Giltinan, whose review prompted me to put this on my list in the first place; and Trevor`s, which reminded me it was there and got me to finally buy it....more

It was the 1950s in Ireland and Eilis Lacey had lived at home with her sister Rose and their mother since their father died and Eilis’ brothers had moved to London for work. The family was poor; Rose was the only one who worked and when Eilis managed to find a job serving in the little corner shop on Sundays, they were pleased with the extra money. But one day when Father Flood arrived from his home in Brooklyn, USA, to catch up with his family, he also visited Eilis, Rose and their mother. TheIt was the 1950s in Ireland and Eilis Lacey had lived at home with her sister Rose and their mother since their father died and Eilis’ brothers had moved to London for work. The family was poor; Rose was the only one who worked and when Eilis managed to find a job serving in the little corner shop on Sundays, they were pleased with the extra money. But one day when Father Flood arrived from his home in Brooklyn, USA, to catch up with his family, he also visited Eilis, Rose and their mother. The result was that Father Flood managed to procure Eilis a position in Brooklyn and before she knew it she was sailing across the ocean to a new life.

Eilis soon settled into the boarding house with Mrs Kehoe and the other boarders. Her job on the shop floor was an easy one, as Eilis had a good head for figures and was a friendly girl. Father Flood also kept an eye on her, especially when bouts of homesickness would hit her. Gradually, with night classes to help keep her thoughts from home, and the company of a boy she’d met at a local dance run by Father Flood, she felt content. But with the suddenness of the unexpected, Eilis received news from home which set her on another course. What would be Eilis’ future now?

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin was an enjoyable coming of age story set in the 1950s in both Ireland and the United States. Eilis was a gentle character; one of good nature and kind thoughts – her growth was noticeable, especially after she’d spent a year or so in Brooklyn. An excellent novel which I have no hesitation in recommending....more

This book delights at many levels. For one who grew up in the south east of Ireland in the 1950-60s it transported me back to many familiar sights, sounds, smells and moments – with uncanny accuracy. The delectation is in the detail and Colm Tóibín, a native of Enniscorthy where the book is partly set, has his details spot on. Mrs Kelly’s shop, the Sunday night dance, early Mass, the Courtown Hotel, Curracloe and Ballyconnigar strand all evoke vivid memories. The petty snobbery, importance of apThis book delights at many levels. For one who grew up in the south east of Ireland in the 1950-60s it transported me back to many familiar sights, sounds, smells and moments – with uncanny accuracy. The delectation is in the detail and Colm Tóibín, a native of Enniscorthy where the book is partly set, has his details spot on. Mrs Kelly’s shop, the Sunday night dance, early Mass, the Courtown Hotel, Curracloe and Ballyconnigar strand all evoke vivid memories. The petty snobbery, importance of appearances, and the social catastrophe of mass forced emigration are captured with a light touch, without anything actually being said about them.

Indeed it is the absence of saying anything about anything important that is probably the salient impression I take from the novel. Real issues are never discussed openly by the main characters or sometimes not at all. We Irish are masters at skirting the subject, dropping hints, making snide comments, raising an eyebrow to deliver a message but rarely are we ones for coming out in the open, addressing an issue up-front. We are certainly better than we were but the old ways of buttoned-up silent emotions that Tóibín lays out brilliantly remains our default stance.

What is exceptional about the main character Eilís Lacey is that she is endowed with heightened intuition for a young woman of her age and time. She can see into and beyond what people say to what they are thinking and feeling and her capacity for discernment is breathtaking. Her poise and manner set her apart but her inability to freely express her own inner emotions eventually is her undoing.

Denial runs through these pages as a leitmotif. Eilís’s recently dead father is hardly mentioned, the harrowing feelings of everyone concerned at her departure for America (including her own) and other later events are never expressed, tears are shed in private, major issues are avoided or left to simmer, letters are written without crucial content, joy, love, ecstasy are barely acknowledged. Tóibín has illustrated an innate Irish ethnic trait in the most subtle yet damming way – by slowly and painstakingly unearthing its essence while never actually naming it. He learned his manners well in Enniscorthy.

The other themes of the book for me are emigration and women. The experience of a houseful of Irish emigrants in Brooklyn is brilliantly portrayed but it could be mirrored by similar groups in any part of England at the time, except for the particular constraints imposed by the distance from home. Lack of education meant limited opportunity and the Irish tended to huddle together for support and comfort. The beneficent influence of the Catholic Church gets its due as a bulwark of strength in a somewhat hostile environment. What is absent is any sense of frustration, anger or betrayal that this should be the lot of these young people – deserted by a nation pledged to cherish them. And that too is authentic. It is only in recent times that Irish people have moved beyond mute acceptance of forced mass emigration and started to ask the why questions.

Apart from Fr Flood who helps Eilís in Brooklyn there is hardly another major male character. Tóibín has a sub-plot here as well I suspect. In the official Ireland of government, news, church, and commerce it was only men who were seen or heard. Women were confined behind the lace curtains but that did not diminish their power exercised in ways that men neither understood nor felt. This is a hymn of praise to Irish women of that era who did not merely suffer in silence but rose above it to act with dignity, sense, courage and humility as beautifully revealed in the portraits of Eilís, her mother and her sister Rose. For accuracy sake the narrow mindedness and cruelty of other women is there too in Mrs Kelly and Mrs Kehoe but their parts merely serve to highlight the heroism of the Lacey women. Like many mothers and daughters of their time duty was what counted – knowing it and doing it come what may—and never letting the side down.

The book left me with much to remember and much to regret. As I wallowed in the nostalgia Tóibín craftily created I began to become uneasy and a sense of foreboding accompanied every page turn. As Eilís got happier I become more alert, more aware of impending doom. In that older Ireland joy was not just fleeting it was distrusted and discouraged. “You’ll soon get your comeuppance me boyo!” And just on cue Tóibín brought me down to earth—but bless him—he didn’t leave me totally devastated at the end....more

Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford in 1955. He studied at University College Dublin and lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978. Out of his experience in Barcelona be produced two books, the novel ‘The South’ (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and winner of the Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction Award) and ‘Homage to Barcelona’, both published in 1990. When he returColm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford in 1955. He studied at University College Dublin and lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978. Out of his experience in Barcelona be produced two books, the novel ‘The South’ (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and winner of the Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction Award) and ‘Homage to Barcelona’, both published in 1990. When he returned to Ireland in 1978 he worked as a journalist for ‘In Dublin’, ‘Hibernia’ and ‘The Sunday Tribune’, becoming features editor of ‘In Dublin’ in 1981 and editor of Magill, Ireland’s current affairs magazine, in 1982. He left Magill in 1985 and travelled in Africa and South America. His journalism from the 1980s was collected in ‘The Trial of the Generals’ (1990). His other work as a journalist and travel writer includes ‘Bad Blood: A Walk Along the Irish Border’ (1987) and ‘The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe’ (1994). His other novels are: ‘The Heather Blazing (1992, winner of the Encore Award); ‘The Story of the Night’ (1996, winner of the Ferro-Grumley Prize); ‘The Blackwater Lightship’ (1999, shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Prize and the Booker Prize and made into a film starring Angela Lansbury); ‘The Master’ (2004, winner of the Dublin IMPAC Prize; the Prix du Meilleur Livre; the LA Times Novel of the Year; and shortlisted for the Booker Prize); ‘Brooklyn’ (2009, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year). His short story collections are ‘Mothers and Sons’ (2006, winner of the Edge Hill Prize) and ‘The Empty Family (2010). His play ‘Beauty in a Broken Place’ was performed at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin in 2004. His other books include: ‘The Modern Library: the 200 Best Novels Since 1950’ (with Carmen Callil); ‘Lady Gregory’s Toothbrush’ (2002); ‘Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar’ (2002) and ‘All a Novelist Needs: Essays on Henry James’ (2010). He has edited ‘The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction’. His work has been translated into thirty languages. In 2008, a book of essays on his work ‘Reading Colm Toibin’, edited by Paul Delaney, was published. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster and from University College Dublin. He is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. In 2006 he was appointed to the Arts Council in Ireland. He has twice been Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University and also been a visiting writer at the Michener Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently Leonard Milberg Lecturer in Irish Letters at Princeton University....more